Springfield teachers union and district start summer break far apart on new contract

Springfield teachers left their classrooms for summer last week without a new contract for the next school year. Bargaining continues between the district and the teachers union.

Springfield Public Schools and the union, the Springfield Education Association (SEA), are still far from an agreement on certain issues, including pay and workday length. The two sides will likely not return to the bargaining table until August, according to Maria Sayre-Heiss, bargaining chair for the teachers union. The biggest sticking points: cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA), meetings cutting into prep time, and a longer teacher workday.

Brian Richardson, director of communications and community engagement for Springfield Public Schools, did not offer comment on the bargaining, other than to say it is continuing and information is publicly available.

Sayre-Heiss said the relationship between Springfield teachers and the district leadership has changed over the years, and teachers feel less respected and as though their voices have not been heard, which is leading to a longer bargaining period. 

“Right now, we have teachers leaving in droves and going to other districts or leaving the profession,” Sayre-Heiss said. “I feel like all it takes is a few things from the district, of giving us back some autonomy and trust, and that will make teachers be able to breathe a little more, get their work done, and be more happy and satisfied with their jobs. I think there’s great potential, and I’m hopeful, maybe in the fall, we’ll get there.”

Items still on the table

The district is proposing a 2.5% increase in pay this year, while SEA is proposing a 6.5% increase. The district passed its 2025-26 budget June 9, which allocated no money for COLA. Any increase to salaries may result in additional cuts to staffing, Brett Yancey, Springfield Public Schools chief operations officer, said at the May 8 budget committee meeting.

Sayre-Heiss said she thinks the district’s threats to cut more staff are scare tactics to get teachers not to ask for any COLA. SEA is asking for a 6.5% increase to bring Springfield teacher salaries closer to those in the Eugene School District. With a limited budget, however, district leaders and teachers are in a tough position.

“We would like to stay (at 6.5%), but I think our members know it may not be feasible,” Sayre-Heiss said.

One of the other contentious issues is the district’s plan to extend teachers’ workdays by 30 minutes, resulting in 8.5-hour workdays. Sayre-Heiss said the majority of Oregon school districts have 8-hour workdays.

“Most teachers work many more hours already but they can do it at home if they prefer versus staying in their classroom to do it,” Sayre-Heiss wrote in a message to Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “Our hours allow our staff the flexibility to get to appointments, family responsibilities, etc.”

The two parties are also still in disagreement about elementary teacher prep time. Springfield elementary teachers currently have two meetings a week during their prep time to discuss student test scores with administrators. SEA is bargaining to move these meetings after school, allowing teachers more prep time during school hours. 

Shining a light on the bargaining process

At the June 11 bargaining session, teachers made up most of the audience. They wore red to support their union representatives at the table, and they graded end-of-year papers.

This is the first contract that SEA and the district have bargained publicly, giving employees a front-row seat to a process that has previously been conducted behind closed doors in Springfield.

The district and the union have engaged in collaborative bargaining in the past, which involved a mediator. But teachers who were not on the bargaining team learned what was in the contract only when they voted on it. With a now-strained relationship between teachers and the current district leadership, however, Sayre-Heiss said the previous style of bargaining was not giving teachers enough say. She also wanted her colleagues to see the bargaining process with their own eyes.

“I felt it was very important for our members to actually know what the union does and all the stuff that happens and show them what the use of union is,” Sayre-Heiss said.

‘A culture of silence:” Frustration with district leadership

Many Springfield teachers are upset by the lack of input they’re able to give on district decisions. Sayre-Heiss said teachers used to be much more involved in choosing curriculum, for example.

“It has been becoming way less teacher input and teacher decision-making and more district-level decisions and teachers not (being) part of those processes,” Sayre-Heiss said.

Laura Farrelly, a Springfield High School English teacher, spoke at the June 9 school board meeting, when the board passed the budget, about her frustrations with the district’s management style.

“As administrative jobs have increased, staff morale has decreased,” Farrelly said. “Teachers are mandated to attend ever more meetings and given less time to prep and grade while having our voices and expertise stifled.”

Farrelly said when she signed up to speak at a school board meeting a few years ago, she was discouraged by upper management from sharing her comments. She said the same thing has happened to other teachers.

“This has led to a culture of silence that permeates our district,” Farrelly said. “When teachers feel disrespected and fearful of sharing our concerns, there is cause for alarm. It is indicative of toxic top-down management.”